Twigs' Greatest Fears
by Side Quest Publications
Summary: Tree Fu Tom, starring David Tennant as Twigs and Sophie Aldred as Tom. An origin story that explores how the main characters might have met and become friends. Also explores some of the things a certain Acorn Sprite is afraid of, and a possible reason for those fears. Rated K plus for (according to the site's requirements) "minor action violence without serious injury."
1. I Hate Jelly!

**Not long ago, I started watching Tree Fu Tom with my nephews—one older one with Autism (not quite what the show is aimed at, but anyway), and one much younger one who may or may not have a similar condition.**

 **And some time during the show, I started wondering, just how did Tom meet the Treelings, anyway? How did he get that Sapstone belt and magic powers? I put out the question on Twitter, to no less than Sophie Aldred herself. Well, no answer was forthcoming (yet), but even as I said on there, I'm a sucker for a good origin story, so I tried coming up with a theory of my own. And part of the story here is the result of that.**

 **While catching repeats, I started coming across a few other tidbits, including Twigs' apparent fear of jelly. I tried adding those tidbits to my story where they fit, along with paying close attention to the opening and closing scenes, all which resulted in slightly rewriting some parts of my "origin story," and from those changes, the framing story was born.**

 **I don't see the show anywhere near as much as I'd like. We don't get Sprout at our house, I rarely get to watch NBC Kids, and I don't have the money (yet) to just buy it, so I only get to see it if I happen to be babysitting at my sister's when it's on, or when our cable company deigns to make episodes available On Demand. I can only hope I've seen enough to do a good job at the characterization.**

 **Tree Fu Tom, the "worlds" it takes place in and all characters in this story belong to CBeebies and the studio's respective writers, directors, et cetera.**

* * *

It was another beautiful day when Tom flew into Treetopolis, and all of the Treelings looked really busy.

"Hey, Tom!" Twigs, the Acorn Sprite, called out from the sky.

Tom flew over to join his friend. "Hi, Twigs. What's going on?"

"Festival!" Twigs replied. "There's going to be scary rides, and gooey treats, and ooh, it's going to be so much fun!" He grinned.

"So where are you off to?" Tom asked.

"The ranch. I'm helping Ariela prepare the food. You want to come along?"

"Sure!"

At the ranch, Tom saw all of his closest Treeling friends gathered. There was Ariela the butterfly, of course, but also Squirmtum the woodlouse, and... Zigzoo the frog?

"Huh. I figured Zigzoo would've been helping with the rides," Tom said.

"Who knows?" Twigs replied. "Does it really matter?"

"I guess not," Tom said. And it didn't. He was always happy to have his friends around. He landed and waved. "Hi, Ariela. Squirmtum. Zigzoo."

Twigs flew down and joined them. "Hello, my butterfly buddy."

"Hiya Tom, Twigs. You boys here to help me out?"

"Yeah!" Twigs said. "Um... what's Zigzoo doing here? I'd have thought Treetopolis' greatest inventor would be working on the rides."

Tom tried not to laugh.

"No, he's tinkering with some kind of food-maker," Ariela replied. "But he's made a game out of it, and he's trying to out-do those trouble-making Mushas, if you can believe it."

"What do you mean?" Tom asked.

"His game's supposed to be _really_ messy," Ariela said. "He's got that contraption filled with peanut butter, and honey, and jelly—"

"Blech, _jelly_!" Twigs muttered. "That's one game I won't _ever_ play."

"And all kinds of other sticky foods," Squirmtum added.

"Right," Ariela said. "That's why Zigzoo's out here. I agreed to let him set it up near the ranch, instead of out by the castle, so the Treelings who don't mind making a mess can have all the fun they like with it, but others like Twigs," and she chuckled, "don't have to worry about getting all messed up if they don't want to join in."

"Well, _that's_ a relief," Twigs said. "Phew! Thanks for that." There was a sound of a mechanical _snap!_ coming from the direction of the machine. "Um... what was that?"

Another _snap!_

"Uh-oh! Looks like I mighta spoken too soon," Ariela said. She pointed in the direction of the machine. "Look out!" She took flight to avoid the glob of jelly the machine had launched their way.

Squirmtum rolled away, and Tom joined Ariela in the sky to help Zigzoo shut down the machine. Twigs, unfortunately, panicked and froze up, and before he could escape into his acorn he was covered head to toe in the sticky jelly.

After the machine was shut down, Tom and the others returned to find Twigs passed out, but the jelly was so sticky that it kept him from falling over.

"Oh, my!" Ariela fluttered down to examine the Sprite. "What's happened here?"

"Uh... Twigs?" Tom tried to wake his friend up. "Twigs!" He looked around at his other friends.

"I'll get something to clean him up," Ariela suggested, and she headed into the barn.

"And I'll try to wake him," Tom added.

A few minutes, one spell, and a half a dozen trillicakes later, Twigs was awake and mostly clean, but he couldn't stop shuddering.

"Twigs, I've been meaning to ask," Zigzoo said. "Just why _do_ you hate jelly so much?"

"Why, he asks me? _Why_?" Twigs stared at the frog in astonishment. "Why, it's _only_ the vilest, most evilest thing ever invented. Why would I _ever_ hate anything like that?"

"I was wondering the same thing," Ariela said. "I might understand if you didn't like the taste, but you won't touch the stuff even when we make it with your favorite berries."

"Or if you didn't like getting messy," Squirmtum added. "But you usually _love_ playing in the mud."

"You keep saying you think it's scary," Tom said. "But that doesn't make any sense, either. It's just food."

"Sure it does," Ariela said. "The little Sprite's scared of everything."

"I am not!" Twigs protested. "I'm not scared of _anything_."

"Uh-huh. Right." Ariela gasped and pointed. "Look out! More flying jelly!"

Twigs screamed and popped into his acorn.

Tom caught the trembling acorn before it could hit the ground. "It's okay, Twigs, there's nothing there."

Twigs popped back out of the acorn and started gasping and panting. "Right," he said. "I knew that." But he was still shaking.

"This really is bothering you, ain't it?" Ariela said. "I'm sorry, Twigs, I shouldn't have tricked you like that."

"But why?" Tom asked. "Why would you be afraid of jelly?"

Twigs stopped shaking, and he just stared up at Tom. Tears started forming in the little Sprite's eyes, and his lower lip trembled. "You mean... you don't remember what happened?" He sniffed. "You don't remember how we first met?"

"Uh..." Tom tried to think fast. "Of course I remember how we met. I think. I guess I just don't remember what jelly has to do with it." He gave a helpless shrug.

"Oh, _fine_ ," Twigs said with a huff. He turned his back on his friends, crossed his arms, and plopped down onto the ground. "If you all _really_ want to know..." he added with a roll of his eyes. A rustling sound behind him made him turn around. Everyone was seated and watching him attentively, and Twigs blinked in surprise. "You... you all really want to know?"

"Of course," Tom replied. "We're friends, aren't we? And it's important to know when something's bothering your friends."

"Mm-hmm," Ariela agreed. "And especially to know _why_ it's bothering them. So we can help you when you're scared. Anyway, we got plenty of time before the festival, so get on with it!"

"Oh. Okay, then. Um..." Twigs frowned. "So where should I start?"

"How about when we met?" Tom suggested.

"What? No, no, no. This started _way_ before we met." Twigs thought some more, then he clicked his fingers. "Oh, right, the Mushas!"

"The Mushas helped you meet Tom?" Squirmtum asked.

"Not exactly," Twigs replied. "I remember it like it was yesterday. Chezz and I had just found out that the Mushas were up to their old tricks again, and I was the _only_ one who could stop them. Chezz, of course, ran to hide back at the castle, but I followed them, sneaking around to see what they were doing, and I waited until the right moment and I jumped out and yelled—"

"Twigs!" Ariela crossed her arms. "The _real_ story?"

Twigs laughed nervously. "All right, all right, so I panicked when I saw them, and I flew straight into a patch of spring weed."

"What's spring weed?" Tom asked.

"Oh, right, you've never seen this stuff." Twigs thought a moment. "Well, remember those bounce mushrooms when we had to help the Mushas in the fungus forest?" Tom nodded. "This stuff is _way_ springier than those. We use a very teeny tiny little bit of it to make toys like... like... oh, kind of like your Tromp and Lean."

Tom chuckled. "You mean my _trampoline_."

"Uh, yeah, that thing," Twigs said. He waved off the correction as though it wasn't important. "Works great for helping young Sprites learn how to fly, too. But you jump in a whole field of it, and that stuff can spring you up as high as Treetog's tower! So you've got to be really careful. And I..." He sighed. "Well, I was running _away_ from the tower, so..."

—

Twigs went flying through the trees, faster than he'd ever flown before. It could have been fun, if only he had the slightest bit of control over the flight. But the spring weed had launched him into the air as soon as he'd touched it, and he simply couldn't turn aside or stop.

A tree stopped him instead. The impact knocked him into his acorn, and he bounced off one branch, landed on another, and eventually bounced his way to the ground and rolled away from the trees.

Twigs finally popped back out of the acorn, gasping. "I'm okay! I'm _okay_!" He waited for the world to stop spinning around him, then he fluttered his wings to fly back home. "I'm... _ow!_ " He fell back to the ground. "Oh, my poor wing!"

Twigs twisted this way and that, trying to get a good look at the wing that had crumpled beneath him. "Oh, great, now Treetog's going to make me drink a healing potion. They _always_ taste bad." He clicked his fingers. "Wait! I don't need a potion; I can use a healing spell! And it's the very first spell Treetog's ever taught us, so it'll be easy. I – am – a genius."

He took a couple of deep breaths and stood back up. "Okay, now how did it go? Two steps to the right..." He took two steps. "And a three-quarter spin the left—" He had to be careful with this move. Too slow and the spell wouldn't have enough power; too fast and he'd only end up hurting his wing worse. "Clap, and... Healing Hands!"

Nothing happened.

"Um... okay... I'll try again. Two steps to the right, a three-quarter spin to the left, clap, and... Healing Hands!"

Still nothing.

"Or maybe it was two steps to the left?"

It was no good. No matter what Twigs did, the spell simply wouldn't work. It didn't even feel like he'd messed it up, it just did _nothing_.

"This doesn't make any sense," he complained. "The magic sap is _everywhere_ in Treetopolis, even the Fungus Forest. _Something_ should have happened. Unless maybe I was..." He shook his head and laughed. "Oh, Twigs, don't be silly, you're just scaring yourself. You forgot the moves is all. Am I right, Chezz?"

Twigs waited for Chezz to taunt him, and he blinked when he only got silence as a reply. "Chezz? Treetog?" There was still no response, and his voice dropped. "Stink? Puffy? Anyone?" He gulped. "Where is everyone?" he asked in a very small voice.

He jumped onto a large rock and stared at the tall grasses. "Where am _I_?" he whispered. "That spring weed must've sprung me farther than I thought; I don't recognize this part of the forest at all." He sighed. "There's got to be a way to figure out how to get back to the castle, but if I can't fly, I... oof!"

Twigs had begun slowly sinking into the black rock, until he lost his balance and toppled over onto his back. "Huh? Oh! That's how!" He stared up the black rock. "I can look around from up there!"

The rock was a lot squishier than he expected, but its curve was covered with knobs that were perfect for a Sprite his size. Twigs smirked; Chezz loved to taunt him about how small he was, but the bigger Sprites would surely be much too heavy to manage this climb.

The climb was difficult without his wing power, but finally Twigs made it to the top. He looked all around him. In one direction... forest and more bizarre trees and rocks; still nothing he recognized. In the other, he could just barely see the tell-tale glow of magic sap.

The glow was at least a few hours' flight away.

"I'm doomed."

—

"But what about the jelly?" Squirmtum asked.

"Hold on, hold on, I'm getting to that part."

—

The walk back to the forest was long. Twigs was tired and hungry, and his feet were aching, and he jumped at every sound. And it was dark and getting darker.

In fact, it just got a whole _lot_ darker. A huge shadow fell over Twigs, but he was nowhere near the forest yet. Had a cloud covered the sun?

Twigs looked up, and he whimpered when he saw where the shadow came from. It was a great monstrous beast, twice as tall as Treetog's castle, and easily four times that in length. The monster yawned, giving Twigs a very good look at its many sharp teeth, and especially the four long ones, before it spoke.

"Mreow," the monster said, in a voice like thunder that knocked Twigs off his feet.

Twigs yelped and popped back into his acorn. With any luck the monster wouldn't even see him and would keep walking.

But such luck was not with the young Sprite. The monster reached out one massive paw and struck his acorn, sending him spinning along the ground several times before he popped out again.

"Yaah!" Twigs turned and ran as fast as his legs could carry him, while the monster followed close behind. "Where's that rock? Where's that rock? Where's th—ouch!" He ran straight into a strange tree, one that went up at a sharp angle before it was joined by another similar tree.

He didn't even stop to worry if he could climb this one; he just started climbing. He managed to pull himself up onto the upper branches, fought to keep his balance, and toppled onto the springy leaves... and right into a puddle of something thick and sticky and smelling of berries.

The monster simply leaped up after him.

Twigs struggled to get free, but the stuff he'd landed in was too sticky, and he couldn't move.

Twigs could only whimper and shake as the monster came closer and closer.

—

"Oh, you poor thing!" Ariela said. "No wonder you're scared. Trapped like that with that monster chasing you? You must've been _terrified_!"

"Very," Twigs replied, shaking again. "Very terrified."

"But it's all over now," Tom said. He put an arm around his friend's shoulder until the shaking stopped. "You're safe with us."

"So how did you escape?" Zigzoo asked. "What happened next?"

"Hmm? Oh, I didn't escape," Twigs replied. "I was all gobbled up and never heard from again."

* * *

 **Well there you go. The first chapter to my Tree Fu Tom origin story. Anybody care to guess what all Twigs ran into outside of Treetopolis? ;)  
**

 **Later entries, after I return to Treetopolis, will no longer have the "flashback" format. That is, the "origin story," which was the originally intended story, will include other characters' perspectives as needed, while the present events of the festival (when included) will remain as nothing more than a framing story.**

 **FYI: Between the show's British origins, and the context in some of the episodes, I'm guessing his fear of jelly is actually referring to jell _o_. I don't recall the American version changing the term, but anyway.  
This distinction doesn't change my story any (though "sticky" might no longer be the right term), it's just something I happened to notice.  
I also happened to notice that Tom doesn't take this "fear" very seriously whenever Twigs mentions it, at least not in the episodes I've had access to so far. Granted, Twigs does tend to act very silly and overly dramatic, and he's probably doing the same in this case** ** **—and maybe some time I'll catch an episode that confirms what this fear really is**** ** ** **—**** but I chose to address it in my story as a genuine fear... and that _without_ using the just-as-serious possibility that it's a total phobia, a fear which has no rational source but is just as real.  
**


	2. Big Worlder

**In the last chapter, we found a certain Acorn Sprite getting so carried away with his story-telling that he forgot he was telling his friends about something that** _ **actually happened**_ **to him.**

 **But what really happened to him out in the Big World?**

 **Tree Fu Tom, the "worlds" it takes place in, and all characters in this story belong to CBeebies and the studio's respective directors, writers, et cetera.**

* * *

Tom shook his head and tried to hide a smile. The other three Treelings were not quite as amused.

" _Twigs!_ " they said in unison.

"Darn it, Twigs," Ariela said, "I can't believe you had us going like that! Does this mean that _none_ of that story was true?"

"Of course it's true!" Twigs protested. "Every single word of it. Er... except for that 'gobbling up' part."

"Yeah, right," Ariela replied.

"Actually, Ariela," Tom said, "he _is_ telling the truth."

"Really? So what _did_ happen next?" Zigzoo repeated.

"I... um..." Twigs gave a nervous laugh. "I can't really remember the next part."

"You mean, you don't remember what happened _when we met_?" Tom asked.

"Maybe _you_ should try being scared out of half your wits and tumbled free of the rest," Twigs replied, "and see how well _you_ remember! Oh! That's it! _That's_ what happened! I remember it! I remember it!"

"Then what are you waiting for?" Squirmtum asked. "Tell us already!"

—

Something large grabbed Twigs, but it was not the long teeth he expected. It was round and soft, and it pulled him free of the berry-smelling stuff before closing around him.

The thing trapping him now swung him upwards... _fast_. "I'm... getting... dizzy!" Twigs yelled.

"What?" The thing opened again, and a gigantic face came close. "Did this thing just talk?" the face said, in a voice louder than even the sharp-toothed monster had used.

"Yah!" Twigs clapped his hands over his ears. "Not so loud!" he said with a whimper.

The thing holding him jerked and nearly flung the poor Sprite away. Twigs barely managed to grab hold before he could fall the now considerable distance to the ground.

The large eyes in the giant's face became larger. "It _did_ talk!" the giant said.

Twigs clapped his hands over his ears again, and whimpered.

"Uh... sorry," the giant said, a little more quietly.

The thing holding Twigs set him down gently on the weird tree with its springy leaves, before moving away to resolve itself into a giant hand.

The giant leaned over, his hand over his mouth, and whispered, "Is this better?"

Twigs nodded. He stared at the giant. "Wowzers!" he finally managed to say. "You're _huge_! You're even bigger than that monster!" He shook, remembering those long teeth. "Um... where did that monster go?"

"Monster?" the giant asked. "Oh, you mean the neighbor's cat? Mum doesn't like it getting on the furniture, so I shooed it off."

Twigs wasn't quite sure what 'shooed' meant, but the result was clear... "You saved me?" He thought a moment, then nodded and grinned. "Yay! You saved me! Ya–ouch!"

The giant tilted his head. "Are you okay?" he asked. He leaned over to peer at the crumpled wing. "Did the cat hurt you?"

Twigs shook his head. "No, I hurt my wing long before that monster showed up." He sighed. "And now I can't fly back home."

"What are you, anyway?" the giant asked. "I don't think I've ever seen a bug like you. Never heard one talk, either."

"I'm not a bug," Twigs said. "I'm an Acorn Sprite."

"What's an—" the giant started to say, but another voice interrupted him.

"Tom!" another giant, a larger one, called out. "Who are you talking to out there?"

"No one, mum," Tom replied. He quickly scooped Twigs up and deposited him in a pocket. "I was just playing, then the neighbor's cat snuck in again."

"Again?" Tom's mother said. "I really wish they'd put a bell on that thing. I suppose that's what we get for living in the countryside, huh?" A pause. "Come inside for a bit. You can play some more when your homework is finished."

"Okay," Tom replied. His mother left, and Tom dropped his voice back down to a whisper. "I think I can help you get home," he said, "but I'll have to do what my mum says first."

Twigs clambered to the top of the pocket and stuck his head out. "Okay. Works for me—whoa!"

Tom took off towards the large structure his mother had disappeared into, and Twigs had to cling to the rim of the pocket to keep from falling back in again.

Tom opened a door and went inside. "Mum, can I have a snack if I do my homework in my room? I promise I won't make a mess."

"All right. I'll bring you something in a few minutes."

"Thanks, mum."

Tom moved a bit more and into another room before helping Twigs out of the pocket and onto another strange flat tree. "Here you go," he said. "You'll want to hide for a bit. I don't know how my mum would react if she sees you."

Twigs agreed, and quickly ducked into the shadows cast by the objects spread across the tree, while Tom busied himself nearby with a book.

A few minutes later, Tom's mother walked in, carrying a small dish. She set the dish on the flat tree and walked out again, closing the door behind her.

Twigs crept out of his hiding place to examine the dish. "Um... do you suppose I could...?"

"Go ahead," Tom replied. "Oh! I didn't ask, can you even eat that stuff?"

"Hmm... I'm not so sure about these two," Twigs said, indicating a couple of pieces of cheese and something like dry crumbly bread. "But these berries look good." He sunk his teeth into one berry, then let go quickly. "Oh! Cold, cold, cold..."

"Sorry," Tom whispered. "I should've warned you, mum likes to freeze those."

"It's... g-g-good," Twigs said, shivering. He took another bite, carefully this time.

Tom stared at his book while Twigs continued eating. "I really do have to finish my homework," he said, "but I think we can talk if you like. So... is there anything you'd like to talk about?"

"Okay... What's homework?"

Tom chuckled. "Homework is the work my teacher gives me to do for after school. Uh... do you need me to explain what school is?"

"Mmm... I don't think so. You're learning stuff, lessons, right? Like magic spells?"

Tom gasped. "You can do magic?"

"Yeah! Well, I could," Twigs replied. "Not anymore."

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know. I tried to use a healing spell to fix my wing, but it didn't do anything. I can't seem to use any of my spells anymore."

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that. But there's got to be someone who can help."

"Yeah, Treetog," Twigs replied. "She's the one teaching us spells. If anyone can fix me up, it's her. I just wish I knew why I can't do it."

"If she's that good, I'm sure she could explain it," Tom said. "Well, the sooner I get my homework done, the sooner we can find out."

Twigs took the hint and started exploring the dish of food while Tom continued his work. They continued to trade a few questions back and forth, but they focused mostly on the tasks in front of them.

And soon, both were finished with those tasks.

"Mum!" Tom called. "Mum, my homework's completed. Can I go back outside now?"

"All right," she called back. "Just make sure you wash up in time for dinner."

"Got it." Tom scooped Twigs up. "Are you ready?"

"Yup. Ready is my middle name."

Tom waited until they were outside before speaking again. "So what's the plan?" he whispered.

"The plan is, I get back to my forest, and then think of something," Twigs replied.

"You mean you don't even have a plan?"

"What did you expect? I've never been outside of Treetopolis before!"

Tom sighed. "Okay, okay, one step at a time. How do we get to your forest?"

"Um..." Twigs clambered onto Tom's shoulder and looked around. "That way. Those trees on the left."

Tom nodded. "What exactly are you looking for?"

"Magic sap," Twigs replied. "Can't you see it glowing?"

"No. Wait, like that thing on your belt?"

"The thing on my..." Twigs looked down. "The Sapstone! My Sapstone is glowing!"

"And that's a good thing?"

"It's a _very_ good thing. Okay, hold on," Twigs said. "Take that path. Even though my magic isn't working, if my Sapstone is glowing, it means I can still use the Magic Sap." He glanced at the Sapstone. "Not glowing very much. I'll have to ask Treetog to charge it. But if I can use it to turn my magic on, it should be enough."

"Okay, now where?"

"That tree, right there. Set me down there."

Tom walked over to the tree and set Twigs down in the indicated spot. "You're ready?"

"I _told_ you, ready is my middle name." Twigs stepped into his spell pose, waited five seconds, and then relaxed.

"What's wrong? Isn't it working?"

"Well... I haven't tried it yet," Twigs replied. "See, the thing is... I'm going to feel really silly if this doesn't work, but..."

"You're being silly _now_ ," Tom said. "Of course it's going to work."

"Yeah, see, that's the thing," Twigs said. "If it does work... If I get back home, but I... maybe, can't ever see you again..." He took a deep breath. "There's one thing I _really_ need to tell you first."

Tom smiled. "Don't worry about it," he said. "You don't need to thank me. I was glad to help; that's what friends do!"

"Er... make that _two_ things I need to say, then," Twigs said.

"Really? What's the other thing then?"

Twigs stuck one hand out. "Hi. My name's Twigs."

Tom stared at the Sprite for a few seconds, then started laughing. He held out one finger for Twigs to shake. "Nice to meet you, Twigs. My name's Tom."

"Tom," Twigs repeated. "Thank you, Tom. Thank you... my friend."

"You're welcome."

Twigs nodded. "Right. Okay, spell pose." He took another deep breath and let it out slowly before getting into his spell pose. Then he began a series of complicated jumps and kicks. With every move his Sapstone glowed just a little bit brighter, until he clapped and... the glow vanished.

Tom waited a few minutes, then a few more, but there was no sign of the Acorn Sprite. Finally he shrugged. "I guess this means he's finally home," he said, and he turned around to return to his own home.

Twigs opened his eyes. He saw Treetopolis forming all around him, but the sight of Tom walking away and fading into that other world made him sad.

* * *

 **And there you have it, how Twigs and Tom first met.**

 **Next up, we find out how Tom got the Sapstone belt and met the other Treelings. And, as promised, it no longer follows a "flashback" format, but will instead feature other characters' perspectives as needed... right up until I return to the present-day festival for an epilogue.**


End file.
